WATERLOO REGION — The lowest bid to build light rail transit in the Region of Waterloo has come in about $13 million under budget.

The overall cost to build, design, finance, operate and maintain the system over a 30-year period will be $1.9 billion.

The information was made public in a regional report released Friday, and officials say it falls within budget.

"There might be a little bit of sticker shock but it's something that we have planned for," Coun. Sean Strickland said.

Construction consortium GrandLinq bid $532 million to build the system, below the $545-million officials had budgeted. It falls within a larger $818-million budget that also pays for consultants, utility locations and other related costs.

GrandLinq, which also had the highest overall technical and financial scores among the three contenders, is identified by regional staff as the preferred bid. Details of the other bids were not released by the region.

In addition to light rail construction, GrandLinq would also do $61 million in other construction projects, including roadwork.

Councillors vote Tuesday at 3 p.m. on whether to award the contract.

"This is a very significant milestone because the last building block is now in place barring any unforeseen issues in terms of the approval of this on Tuesday. … We will know who our partner is for the next 30 years," Coun. Jim Wideman said.

A planned tax increase of up to 12.9 per cent spread over the period 2011 to 2019 for light rail and bus expansion will be sufficient to cover costs of financing, operations and maintenance, officials say.

Since 2011, the average regional taxpayer has paid $219 toward launching rail transit and expanding buses. By 2019, it's estimated the average regional taxpayer will have paid more than $1,000, and annual taxes will be about $200 per year higher than in 2011.

Coun. Tom Galloway said the region has been transparent by telling the public the total cost of the project over an extended time frame. Normally, capital project budgets aren't presented with the financing and other non-construction costs included.

"This is exactly the numbers that we were working on in 2011 when we put the funding strategy together," Galloway said. "It's exactly on budget."

Politicians say they are helping to pay for the project using savings the province is providing by taking over some welfare costs and from paying off mortgages.

The provincial government has committed up to $300 million toward the $818-million capital budget. The federal government has committed up to $265 million.

The region's rapid transit system includes light rail trains on 19 kilometres of track from Conestoga Mall in Waterloo to Fairview Park mall in Kitchener.

The plan was approved by regional councillors in June 2011.

GrandLinq is a construction consortium made up of contractors including:

• Plenary Group Canada Ltd.

• Meridiam Infrastructure Waterloo LRT ULC

• Aecon Construction and Materials Ltd.

• Aecon Concessions

• Peter Kiewit Infrastructure Corp.

• Kiewit Canada Development Corp.

• Mass Electric Construction Canada Co.

• Keolis SA

• Keolis Canada Inc.

• AECOM Canada Ltd.

• STV Canada Construction Inc.

• CIBC World Markets Inc.

pdesmond@therecord.com ; Twitter: @DesmondRecord